Which one did you pick? @jelmax001
@jelmax001 Cousin is a civil engi major at cal poly slo and claims that he loves it. He says that he loves the campus, and especially the fact that its much cheaper than davis.
Both are in the same tier in terms of ranking, so they are very similar schools.
Your kids are lucky dogs! Everyone should be so lucky as to get to choose between those two! They are actually quite similar in feel. Cal Poly is smaller (but not actually very far from the beach), SLO residents are not totally excited about the school being there (you should know if that’s a problem) but it is admittedly beautiful with a great campus. If I lived there and was accepted, that’s where I’d go.
However, UC Davis is actually VERY close (10-15 minutes) to Sac airport and the train is practically on campus - easy access to all major cities, just not necessarily by auto. No beach but access to skiing, mountains, rivers and lakes, etc. is great.
You can’t lose with either.
Lots of comments here suggesting that Cal Poly suffers from the lack of a nearby airport. In reality, there is a busy regional airport in San Luis Obispo (airport code = SBP), about five miles from the Cal Poly campus. It is currently serviced by United (with flights to SFO and LAX) and by American (with flights to PHX). I just looked at the schedule for the next 12 hours; there will be 3 flights to SFO, 4 to LAX, and 4 to PHX. Next year they will be adding service by Alaska Airlines with flights to SEA.
So if you are an out-of-state student, it is not difficult to get in/out of SLO by air – you fly via SFO, LAX, or PHX, and add a short connecting flight. True, this is probably less convenient and more expensive than getting in/out of Davis via SMF. But it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker.